Ridgefield Pamby Half Marathon enjoys stellar run

The Ridgefield Pamby Half-Marathon is expected to draw another large crowd this Sunday when the gun goes off at 8:30 a.m.

Race director

John Dugdale
said race registration puts the event on target to attract nearly 600 runners. And the weather forecast, initially calling for light rain, has been upgraded to partially sunny skies.

"We've had good luck with the weather over the years," Dugdale said. "One year we had a hurricane the weekend before and power lines were down so we had to postpone the event one week but other than that we've been fortunate."

Dugdale said he's not sure if race numbers will be affected by the fact that Ridgefield is not the state championship for masters (40-49) runners this year. Instead the championship race was run in Fairfield in June.

However, Ridgefield's 13.1 mile course continues to be a race that runners mark on their calendar each year for a variety of reasons. Foremost, the event is a good test of one's fitness level especially for those than plan to run a fall marathon.

Although the
United Technologies Marathon
in Hartford is too close to run the following weekend, the Mystic Places Marathon is three weeks away. And runners looking to compete in either the New York City or the Marine Corps marathons next month, Ridgefield comes at the right time.

And of course, October is the best time of the month to run with cool temperatures and beautiful foliage. The course is also gentle on the legs with no big hills and the organization of the race is runner friendly.

"For many people it's their favorite race because we pay a lot of attention to the details," Dugdale said.

One different aspect offered is that pictures of runners are taken as they cross the finish line. Race volunteer
George Harrison
then runs to his shop, develops the pictures, and then runs back to post the pictures on a board at the finish line.

If your picture is on the board you're welcome to take the shot home with you, Dugdale said.

Because Ridgefield did not have to incur a $600 registration fee to be the state master's championship race this year, prize money will be beefed up and go deeper. Generally the top three male and female open runners receive cash. This year the top five will receive $200, $150, $100, $75 and $50 respectively.

Cash prizes of $50, $30 and $20 will be awarded in age categories and there will be no duplication of prizes.

Sergio Ribiero
will be back to defend his title. Perhaps the most amazing of all runners already registered is 64-year-old
Bill Borla
of Torrington who is the top ranked 60-69 runner in the nation. Borla recently ran a 5K in New Haven on Labor Day in 17 minutes and 45 seconds finishing 29th out of 1,990 finishers.

This is the 28th running of a fall race in Ridgefield. For years, the Ridgefield Marathon was the main event until numbers began to fall off by the early 1980s. After that the event morphed into a 3.1 mile road race and then finally a half marathon years later.